Editing War of 1812 (section)

===War in the West===
====Invasions of Canada, 1812====
[[File:Reddition de Détroit.jpg|thumb|American surrender of [[siege of Detroit|Detroit]], August 1812]]

An American army commanded by William Hull invaded Upper Canada on July 12, arriving at Sandwich ([[Windsor, Ontario]]) after crossing the [[Detroit River]].{{sfn|History of Sandwich}}<!-- This ref verified. --> Hull issued a proclamation ordering all British subjects to surrender.{{sfn|Auchinleck|1855|p=49}} The proclamation said that Hull wanted to free them from the "tyranny" of Great Britain, giving them the liberty, security, and wealth that his own country enjoyed{{snd}}unless they preferred "war, slavery and destruction".{{sfn|Laxer|2012|p=131}} He also threatened to kill any British soldier caught fighting alongside Indigenous fighters.{{sfn|Auchinleck|1855|p=49}} Hull's proclamation only helped to stiffen resistance to the American attacks as he lacked artillery and supplies.{{sfn|Aprill|2015}}{{sfn|Clarke Historical Library}}

Hull withdrew to the American side of the river on 7 August 1812 after receiving news of a [[Battle of Brownstown|Shawnee ambush]] on Major [[Thomas Van Horne]]'s 200 men, who had been sent to support the American supply convoy. Hull also faced a lack of support from his officers and fear among his troops of a possible massacre by unfriendly Indigenous forces. A group of 600 troops led by Lieutenant Colonel [[James Miller (general)|James Miller]] remained in Canada, attempting to supply the American position in the Sandwich area, with little success.{{sfn|Laxer|2012|pp=139–142}}

Major General Isaac Brock believed that he should take bold measures to calm the settler population in Canada and to convince the tribes that Britain was strong.{{sfn|Benn|Marston|2006|p=214}} He moved to [[Amherstburg]] near the western end of Lake Erie with reinforcements and [[Siege of Detroit|attacked Detroit]], using [[Fort Malden]] as his stronghold. Hull feared that the British possessed superior numbers, and [[Fort Lernoult|Fort Detroit]] lacked adequate gunpowder and cannonballs to withstand a long siege.{{sfn|Rosentreter|2003|p=74}} He agreed to surrender on 16 August.{{sfn|Marsh|2011}}{{sfn|Hannings|2012|p=50}} Hull also ordered the evacuation of [[Fort Dearborn]] (Chicago) to [[Fort Wayne]], but Potawatomi warriors ambushed them and escorted them back to the fort where they were [[Battle of Fort Dearborn|massacred]] on 15 August. The fort was subsequently burned.{{sfnm|Hickey|1989|1p=84|Ingersoll|1845|2p=31}}{{efn|Hull was later court-martialed for cowardice, neglect of duty and for lying about lack of supplies. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but President Madison granted him a pardon for his heroic service during the Revolutionary War.{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=84}} }}

Brock moved to the eastern end of Lake Erie, where American General [[Stephen Van Rensselaer]] was attempting a second invasion.{{sfn|Hannay|1911|p=848}} The Americans attempted an attack across the [[Niagara River]] on 13 October, but they were defeated [[Battle of Queenston Heights|at Queenston Heights]]. However, Brock was killed during the battle and British leadership suffered after his death. American General [[Henry Dearborn]] made a final attempt to advance north from Lake Champlain, but his militia refused to go beyond American territory.<ref>Daughan, George C. 1812 (pp. 109–111). Basic Books. Kindle Edition</ref>

==== American Northwest, 1813 ====
[[File:Battle erie.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.0|[[Oliver Hazard Perry]]'s message to William Henry Harrison after the [[Battle of Lake Erie]] began thus: "We have met the enemy and they are ours".{{sfn|We Have Met}}]]
{{main|Ohio in the War of 1812|Siege of Detroit}}

After Hull surrendered Detroit, General William Henry Harrison took command of the American [[Army of the Northwest (United States)|Army of the Northwest]]. He set out to retake the city, which was now defended by Colonel [[Henry Procter (British Army officer)|Henry Procter]] and Tecumseh. A detachment of Harrison's army was defeated at [[Battle of Frenchtown|Frenchtown]] along the [[River Raisin]] on 22 January 1813. Procter left the prisoners with an inadequate guard and his Potawatomie allies killed and scalped [[River Raisin Massacre|60 captive Americans]].{{sfn|National Guard History eMuseum}} The defeat ended Harrison's campaign against Detroit, but "Remember the River Raisin!" became a rallying cry for the Americans.{{sfn|Taylor|2010|pp=201, 210}}

In May 1813, Procter and Tecumseh set [[Siege of Fort Meigs|siege to Fort Meigs]] in northwestern Ohio. Tecumseh's fighters ambushed American reinforcements who arrived during the siege, but the fort held out. The fighters eventually began to disperse, forcing Procter and Tecumseh to return to Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fortmeigs.org/history/|title=A History of Fort Meigs – Fort Meigs: Ohio's War of 1812 Battlefield|website=www.fortmeigs.org|access-date=17 March 2021|archive-date=14 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114003801/https://www.fortmeigs.org/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Along the way they attempted to [[Battle of Fort Stephenson|storm Fort Stephenson]], a small American post on the [[Sandusky River]] near Lake Erie. They were repulsed with serious losses, marking the end of the Ohio campaign.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.birchard.lib.oh.us/content/battle-fort-stephenson|title=Battle of Fort Stephenson &#124; Birchard Public Library|website=www.birchard.lib.oh.us}}</ref>

Captain [[Oliver Hazard Perry]] fought the [[Battle of Lake Erie]] on 10 September 1813. His decisive victory at [[Put-in-Bay, Ohio|Put-in-Bay]] ensured American military control of the lake, improved American morale after a series of defeats and compelled the British to fall back from Detroit. This enabled General Harrison to launch another invasion of Upper Canada, which culminated in the American victory at the [[Battle of the Thames]] on 5 October 1813, where Tecumseh was killed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-the-Thames|title=Battle of the Thames &#124; War of 1812|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=9 October 2023 }}</ref>

==== American West, 1813–1815 ====
[[File:Upper Mississippi 1812.png|thumb|upright=1.0|The Upper Mississippi River during the War of 1812: {{olist|[[Fort Belle Fontaine]], American headquarters|[[Fort Osage]], abandoned in 1813|[[Fort Madison]], defeated in 1813|[[Fort Shelby (Wisconsin)|Fort Shelby]], defeated in 1814|[[Battle of Rock Island Rapids]], July 1814; and the [[Battle of Credit Island]], September 1814|[[Fort Johnson]], abandoned in 1814|[[Fort Cap au Gris]] and the [[Battle of the Sink Hole]], May 1815}}]]

The Mississippi River valley was the western frontier of the United States in 1812. The territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 contained almost no American settlements west of the Mississippi except around [[St. Louis]] and a few forts and trading posts in the [[Boonslick]]. [[Fort Belle Fontaine]] was an old [[trading post]] converted to an Army post in 1804 and this served as regional headquarters. [[Fort Osage]], built in 1808 along the [[Missouri River]], was the westernmost American outpost, but it was abandoned at the start of the war.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2002|p=270}}<!-- Unable to verify, but has not failed verification. -- This page not available at Google Books. Needs to be looked at by someone with better access. ER. --> [[Fort Madison]] was built along the Mississippi in Iowa in 1808 and had been repeatedly attacked by British-allied Sauk since its construction. The United States Army abandoned Fort Madison in September 1813 after the indigenous fighters attacked it and besieged it{{snd}}with support from the British. This was one of the few battles fought west of the Mississippi. [[Black Hawk (Sauk leader)|Black Hawk]] played a leadership role.{{sfn|Cole|1921|pp=69–74}}<!-- No preview at Google Books; somebody with better access please verify. -->

The American victory on Lake Erie and the recapture of Detroit isolated the British on Lake Huron. In the winter a Canadian party under Lieutenant Colonel [[Robert McDouall]] established a new supply line from York to [[Nottawasaga Bay]] on [[Georgian Bay]]. He arrived at [[Fort Mackinac]] on 18 May with supplies and more than 400 militia and Indians, then sent an expedition which [[Siege of Prairie du Chien|successfully besieged and recaptured]] the key trading post of [[Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin|Prairie du Chien]], on the Upper Mississippi.{{sfn|Benn|2002|pp=7, 47}} The Americans dispatched a substantial expedition to relieve the fort, but Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo warriors under Black Hawk ambushed it and forced it to withdraw with heavy losses in the [[Battle of Rock Island Rapids]]. In September 1814, the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo, supported by part of Prairie du Chien's British garrison, repulsed a second American force led by Major [[Zachary Taylor]] in the [[Battle of Credit Island]].<ref>Barry M. Gough, ''Fighting Sail on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay: The War of 1812 and its Aftermath'', Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2002, 77–79,</ref> These victories enabled the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo to harass American garrisons further to the south, which led the Americans to abandon [[Fort Johnson]], in central Illinois Territory.{{sfn|Nolan|2009|pp=85–94}} Consequently, the Americans lost control of almost all of Illinois Territory, although they held onto the St. Louis area and eastern [[Missouri]]. However, the Sauk raided even into these territories, clashing with American forces at the Battle of [[Cote Sans Dessein, Missouri|Cote Sans Dessein]] in April 1815 at the mouth of the [[Osage River]] in the [[Missouri Territory]] and the [[Battle of the Sink Hole]] in May 1815 near [[Fort Cap au Gris]].<ref>Roger L. Nichols, ''Black Hawk and the Warrior's Path'', Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, 64–65</ref> This left the British and their Indian allies in control of most of modern Illinois and all of modern Wisconsin.{{sfn|Concise Historical Atlas|1998|p=85}}

Meanwhile, the British were supplying the Indians in the Old Northwest from Montreal via Mackinac.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=48}} On 3 July, the Americans sent a force of five vessels from Detroit to recapture Mackinac. A mixed force of regulars and volunteers from the militia landed on the island on 4 August. They did not attempt to achieve surprise, and Indians ambushed them in the brief [[Battle of Mackinac Island (1814)|Battle of Mackinac Island]] and forced them to re-embark. The Americans discovered the new base at Nottawasaga Bay and on 13 August they destroyed its fortifications and the schooner ''[[Nancy (1789 ship)|Nancy]]'' that they found there. They then returned to Detroit, leaving two gunboats to blockade Mackinac. On 4 September, the British surprised, boarded, and captured both gunboats. These [[engagements on Lake Huron]] left Mackinac under British control.<ref>Barry M. Gough, ''Fighting Sail on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay: The War of 1812 and its Aftermath'', Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2002, 103–121</ref>

The British returned Mackinac and other captured territory to the United States after the war. Some British officers and Canadians objected to handing back Prairie du Chien and especially Mackinac under the terms of the Treaty of Ghent. However, the Americans retained the captured post at Fort Malden near Amherstburg until the British complied with the treaty.{{Sfn|Elting|1995|p=323}} Fighting between Americans, the Sauk and other indigenous tribes continued through 1817, well after the war ended in the east.{{sfn|First United States}}